PlaySpan survey finds women buy more virtual goods

Research and consultancy firm, Frank N. Magid Associates, and PlaySpan today announced a new study that evaluates attitudes and behaviors of consumers on virtual goods spending. According to the study, 12 percent of the overall population surveyed reported that they had bought virtual goods in the last 12 months.

However, a closer look at the habits of virtual goods buyers reveals that virtual world visitors are the heaviest virtual goods buyers, with 46 percent of these consumers buying virtual goods (from virtual worlds, games or social networks) and nearly one third of iPhone owners buying from the same platforms.

Read the rest of this entry »

Kanye West: Game Designer?

Just when I finally thought the “Anything you can do, I can do better” rivalry between hip-hop artists 50 Cent and Kanye West had finally faded away, it moves to a new battleground … video games. We all know that Fiddy has already broken into the industry with 2005’s 50 Cent: Bulletproof on the PS2 and Xbox. Plus, in a move that left many gamers asking simply “Why?”, 50 Cent is returning to the current generation of consoles with the upcoming release of 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. While Fiddy is making his mark starring in video games, Kanye West claims that he’s done one better by designing and programming his own video game … all at the tender age of 12.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Top 21 News Stories of 2008: 14 - 8

(Contributors: Tom Ohle - CD Projekt RED, Rich Carlson - Digital Eel, Eric Holmes - Radical Entertainment, and Game Trust members Evan Narcisse, Gus Mastrapa, David Chapman and James Fudge)

We continue our countdown of the Top 21 News Stories of 2008, with #14 - #7, starting now. If you missed the first part of our countdown featuring David Chapman, James Fudge and ECA President Hal Halpin, you can check it out right here.

Next: #14 –>

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Commentary: The Timothy Plan Video Game Report

The Timothy Plan, an investment group that offers a family of funds that are morally upright, has released a report called “An Inside Look Into: Video Games”, sure to whip the faithful into a frenzy. We assume that this report is for members that ascribe to the questionable notion that any investment firm is capable of claiming moral high ground or finding companies that don’t engage in some questionable practices.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pages: 1 2 3

Lawyers get $1 Million in Hot Coffee Settlement

While consumers who were offended by the Hot Coffee content in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas can get a variety of court-ordered remedies ($35, a Hot Coffee free replacement disc, etc.) it is the lawyers who represented the class that are making out like bandits in the now settled Take-Two class action lawsuit. According to court documents, the court put aside an additional amount of money for lawyers handling the case.

As usual the big winner wasn”t consumers but lawyers, who raked in $1 million dollars in legal fees paid out of a separate judgment allotted to consumers. While this really should not come as a surprise to anyone, it is telling as to the real motivation of lawyers that champion such causes against corporations with deep pockets.

If you are one of those who was offended by the content (and admittedly some people were) you can learn more about what remedies have been made available to you by visiting http://www.gtasettlement.com.

ECA to FNN: Correct the Record on Mass Effect

The Fox News pile-on continues as gamers, organizations and companies tied to the industry continue to demand a correction from the cable news network for its mischaracterization of Mass Effect.

Hal Halprin of the Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) is the latest to issue a letter to the producer (Teri Van Horn) of last week’’s Live Desk segment in which several misstatements about the sexual content in Mass Effect were tossed around as fact. On Friday, Paige Lawrence, self-help author and a participant in the segment, admitted to the New York Times that she misspoke. Last week EA VP of Communications Jeff Brown sent a letter to Fox News asking them to correct the record on Mass Effect and gamers sent a message to Lawrence using Amazon.com’’s review system to give her latest book a negative rating. Below is the bulk of what Hal Halprin sent to Fox News:

On behalf of the [ECA], the national non-profit organization representing American video game consumers, I urge you to correct and repudiate the misstatements leveled by Fox News’ Live Desk regarding the story and character interactions in Mass Effect.

Your show’s reporting was irresponsible and incorrect. Your own expert Cooper Lawrence has subsequently disclaimed her misstatements… In the future, we ask that you book real gamer and industry experts on your show…

ECA’s members are disturbed by your news organization’s apparent disregard of the truth in this instance. We represent a diverse group that cuts across all ages, with the weightiest portion in the coveted 18 - 45 age group, and with women accounting for 38% of gamers. Over the past week, our members have mobilized to speak out and set the record straight on Mass Effect, and we ask the same of you.

While Fox News is certainly used to public ire over its programming, this is the first time that game companies, gamers and trade organizations have attempted to flex their collective muscle on an issue. Perhaps this unification is due to the fact that Mass Effect is in fact a pretty tame game despite its Mature rating — something Fox News could have figured out on their own just by doing a tiny bit of research beyond clips found on YouTube. Go figure.

Jack Thompson Defends Mass Effect?!?

I often lament how every time Jack Thompson (full time anti-game activist and part-time attorney) sends out an email someone has to write a story about it — and yet here I am compelled to go against my own gut instincts because this is actually newsworthy. Brian Crecente over at Kotaku solicited Jack’’s opinion on the whole Mass Effect controversy that has been in the news over the last week and his response was rather…shocking: Jack says that it’’s a bunch of nonsense. What?

In talking to Jack about his recent e-mail related to GTA IV‘’s release, Brian asked Thompson for his opinion on the whole Mass Effect controversy that continues to unfold:

I don”t see any problem with it. The guy who shot his mouth off about it had no idea what the Hell he was talking about, Thompson said in a follow-up email. Thompson added in another email: This contrived controversy is absolutely ridiculous.

One point of clarification — I assume when Thompson says the guy, he is referring to the Townhall.com blogger and not self-help author Paige Lawrence. If he is referring to Paige, then it might be time for Thompson to get a new pair of spectacles, or for Lawrence to get an extreme make-over.